Early Film Critics and Fanatical Fans: The Reception of the Italian Diva Film and the Making of Modern Spectators in Postrevolutionary Mexico

The reception of Italian diva films starring Pina Menichelli, Francesca Bertini, and Lyda Borelli in Mexico City was pivotal in shaping conceptions of the film spectator and the new professional role of the film critic in Mexico City in the late 1910s and early 1920s. In early writings on the divas, journalists (usually erudite and male) established their critical authority through contrasts with the behavior of fanatical fans (usually middle class and female), evaluating the effects of moviegoing, interconnected forms of consumer culture, and the local production of feature films in relation to the nationalistic goals of the postrevolutionary state.